The Mars rover Curiosity had us spellbound for a time, with fascinating discoveries such as small pebbles that suggest there might once have been a streambed on the Red Planet. But we have a short attention span.

On to the next great discovery.

The Houston Texans.

Even after traveling to Denver last week and prevailing over Peyton Manning and the Broncos, the Texans received less respect nationally than the NFL’s two other unbeaten teams, the Arizona Cardinals and the Atlanta Falcons. Maybe it was alphabetical.

But I was watching ESPN on Sunday morning, and suddenly the experts, including Chris Berman, were talking about whether the Texans are for real.

One said yes, one said too early to tell, and Berman, the mediator, sided with the latter. That should have been clear because he wasn’t coming up with any nicknames such as J.J. “Mega” Watt or Arian “Bananas” Foster.

Give ESPN credit, though. The network sent one of the nation’s most authoritative reporters, John Clayton, to Houston for an eyewitness account of the Texans’ game Sunday at Reliant Stadium against the Tennessee Titans.

If that weren’t evidence enough that the Texans were being explored, a new website, sportsonearth.com, sent a reporter whose most recent assignment was in Abu Dhabi.

So what do you think earth learned about the Texans on Sunday during their 38-14 victory over the Titans?

There’s the obvious. They are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. The Oilers, who played here for 47 seasons, were never 4-0. The Texans have won three games by at least 20 points and had a 20-point lead at Denver before Manning brought the Broncos within six. The Texans have not been held to fewer than 27 points, not bad for a defensive team.

They beat the Titans (1-3) every which way a team can be beaten Sunday. The offense scored passing, running and kicking. The defense sent the Titans’ quarterback, Jake Locker, to his locker in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and caused three turnovers by his backup, Matt Hasselbeck, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

The Texans had no turnovers, allowed no sacks and were penalized once for 3 yards.

Muddle huddle returns
Give the coaches credit, too. With a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, the Texans took a break. I believe it’s allowed in the union contract. But after allowing the Titans to halve the lead to 14-7 at halftime, the Texans came out in the third quarter with an up-tempo, no-huddle offense (the muddle huddle) and resumed the rout, though they also got a jump start from safety Danieal Manning’s 55-yard interception return for a 21-7 lead.

What else have we learned about the Texans one quarter into the regular season?

They have weaknesses. The right side of the offensive line remains the weak side, compounded Sunday by an injury to guard Antoine Caldwell.

They don’t defend well against the run. Tennessee’s Chris Johnson, who had gained 45 yards all season, had 141 against the Texans, most running right up the middle.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak wasn’t very happy with his running game. Foster gained 86 yards, but the Texans were limited to 3.1 yards per rush and had difficulty converting on third-and-short in the middle of the game. Still, there are 28 other teams in the NFL that would trade problems with the Texans.

Even Kubiak, who doesn’t get too high or low, had to acknowledge it’s been a good September for our football team. He said the Texans remind him of the good teams he was involved with as a player and coach in Denver because they don’t get concerned about who they play or where they play. They get concerned about how they play.

Foster said all the talk about whether the Texans are underrated, overrated, real or unreal is as useless as trash. More useless, he said in retrospect, because you can at least recycle trash.

N.Y. fishbowl up next
The Texans haven’t seen anything yet. More accurately, they haven’t heard anything yet. They might have become the talk of the earth, but they are headed to New Jersey for a Monday night game against the Jets.

The Jets no doubt will be the talk this week of heaven and earth after losing badly Sunday, thus creating a quarterback controversy involving Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow. Or, as he is known in the tabloids, TIM TEBOW!

Forget Sports on Earth. Sports in the Galaxy will be there to cover that one.